Senior Controls Engineer & Automation Architect

Alliance Automation, LLC; Van Wert (OH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation

Sick time

Medical insurance

Dental/Vision/Life/Disability

401k with company match

Parental leave

Safe, climate-controlled environment

Job summary

Alliance Automation is seeking a Principal Controls Engineer to serve as a senior, hands-on technical leader within our Controls Engineering team. This role solves complex problems, leads challenging projects, mentors engineers, and advances programming standards.

It covers concepting through installation and requires travel to customer facilities. The position emphasizes technical leadership over people management, with a focus on architecture, programming, troubleshooting, and ensuring project

Qualifications

• Ten+ years of controls engineering and industrial automation experience.
• Engineering degree or equivalent technical education.
• Expert-level capability with at least one major PLC/PAC platform.
• Advanced experience with robotics and machine-vision systems.
• Strong knowledge of industrial networking, motion control, safety, data collection, and MES integration.
• Ability to estimate programming, commissioning, and site-support labor requirements.
• Strong project-execution, analytical, and root-cause problem-solving skills.
• Willingness to stay hands-on with programming, commissioning, and troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Mentoring and Technical Development: mentor engineers and technicians through hands-on guidance, code reviews, commissioning support, and knowledge sharing.
• Advanced Programming, Architecture, and Troubleshooting: design, program, commission, and troubleshoot complex automation systems with PLC/PAC, robotics, vision, motion control, networks, safety, data collection, and MES integration.
• Standards, R&D, and Continuous Improvement: develop programming standards, reusable code, templates, and commissioning practices; research and implement technologies.
• Technical Project Leadership: provide leadership from concept through customer acceptance; identify risks and support scheduling and budgeting.
• Concepting, Estimating, and Customer Support: assist with concept development, system architecture, labor estimating, and technical risk evaluation; represent company in meetings.
• Additional responsibilities: lead complex programming, commissioning, debugging, and system performance improvements; travel to customer facilities.

Skills

PLC/PAC programming

Robotics & vision systems

Industrial networking & MES

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Job description

Alliance Automation is seeking a Principal Controls Engineer to serve as a senior, hands-on technical leader within our Controls Engineering team. This role solves complex problems, leads challenging projects, mentors engineers, and advances programming standards.

It covers concepting through installation and requires travel to customer facilities. The position emphasizes technical leadership over people management, with a focus on architecture, programming, troubleshooting, and ensuring project